1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the art of coverings for windows and doors, and more particularly to the art of vertical blinds which are deployed across a window or door opening and which include vertically disposed vanes which may be closed for privacy or opened to allow a view from the interior and light to enter the room. Still more specifically, the present invention relates to the types of vertical blinds just described which also include curtain material joined to the vanes to give a softer appearance, and, in the case where the blinds are in their open position (with the individual vanes parallel to one another or perpendicular to the window opening), to give some amount of privacy, while still allowing some light to enter the room. In its most preferred form, the present invention relates to a novel method of manufacturing such vertical blinds with curtains.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A wide variety of door and window coverings are known in the art and are available for the consumer when new construction, remodelling or redecorating occurs. Common window coverings include roller shades, mini-blinds, Roman shade products, curtains, cellular and pleated blinds, vertical blinds including vanes only, and in recent years vertical blinds which also include curtain material attached to one or both vertically disposed edges of the vanes to permit light control, a softer and more decorative look, and to provide some amount of privacy, even when the blinds are open. The latter category of door and window coverings has not gained widespread acceptance because of the difficulty and expense of manufacturing such products.
One of the earliest of such blind with curtain products is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,638,881 issued on Jun. 17, 1997 to Ruggles, et al. and entitled "BLIND WITH CURTAIN". In this device, the individual vanes, constructed of plastic material, are formed with a generally U-shaped socket on one longitudinal edge. Curtain material strips sufficiently wide to join the front portions of adjacent vanes when the vanes are parallel to one another are provided with beads of rigid material on each longitudinal edge. A pair of such curtain strips are placed back-to-back so that the beads of adjacent strips are next to one another and the beads are inserted into the U-shaped sockets to join the curtain material to the plastic vanes. This device provides a very appealing product appearance and suffers only from the time required to manufacture it. This patent also discloses certain techniques for attaching the vanes to a headrail system and is incorporated in its entirety into this disclosure for such purpose. This patent is owned by the assignee of the present invention.
A number of other patents have issued in recent years relating to the same general subject matter of the present application. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,339,883 issued on Aug. 23, 1994 to Colson, et al. for "COVERING ASSEMBLY FOR ARCHITECTURAL OPENINGS". In this patent, one of the embodiments includes two parallel sheer fabrics which have spaced apart vanes connected to each sheet. The fabric/vane panels are connected to a track using carriers which allow the vanes to be spread apart or stacked with respect to each other and, when spread apart, to be manipulated between opened and closed positions for light control. The deployment of vanes and the stacking thereof in vertical blinds has, in and of itself, been a known feature for vertical blinds for many, many years.
Another patent issued to Colson, et al. is U.S. Pat. No. 5,392,832 issued Feb. 28, 1995 and entitled "COVERING ASSEMBLY FOR ARCHITECTURAL OPENINGS". This patent also describes the use of a panel with two sheer fabrics attached to a plurality of vanes, the track and particular details of an actuator used with the system. Claims are additionally made concerning the dimensional stability of the sheer fabrics in substantially mutually perpendicular directions, and other claims are directed to the types of materials used to form the panels or sheets of fabric so that the vanes do not twist when they are manipulated.
A further Colson, et al. patent, U.S. Pat. No. 5,490,553, was issued on Feb. 13, 1966 and is entitled "FABRIC WINDOW COVERING WITH RIGIDIFIED VANES". This patent discusses both horizontal and vertical blinds, wherein fabric vanes are impregnated with a stiffening compound so that they can be moved between an open position in which the vanes are perpendicular to the fabric sheets and a closed position in which they are parallel with respect to each other. The patent also discusses the use of loops of material for the vanes and the insertion of rigid slats in the loops to provide the desired amount of stiffness. In such products, hinge lines may also be formed at opposite edges of the vane so that the vanes are flexibly connected to the curtain material.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,603,369 issued to Colson, et al. on Feb. 18, 1997 and is entitled "FABRIC WINDOW COVERING WITH VERTICAL RIGIDIFIED VANES". This patent, which is a division of the aforementioned '553 patent, includes claims to the use of only a single sheet of fabric connected to vanes impregnated with stiffening compounds, as well as the controls for vertically suspending and pivoting the vanes. Additional claims discuss the construction of the vanes from loops of materials with slats inserted therein, providing hinge connections between the fabric sheet and the slats and the control systems mentioned above. Additional claims are provided for two sheets of fabric connected to the vanes, which can be arranged either horizontally or vertically.
A still further Colson patent entitled "FABRIC FOR AN ARCHITECTURAL COVERING AND METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING SAME" was issued on May 12, 1998 as U.S. Pat. No. 5,749,404. This patent includes numerous claims relating to the combination of vanes with flaps attached in a variety of different ways to fabric, the connection of the fabric sheet around the flaps, the use of single or double sheets, valances, the use of two sheets and the connection of vanes on either side to different materials at each side edge. The patent indicates in some claimed embodiments that the vanes have a flexibility less than the flexibility of the sheets of fabric material attached thereto.
Despite numerous descriptions of vane and fabric architectural blinds, relatively little information is provided concerning manufacturing techniques. In connection with the Colson patents just mentioned, one manufacturing technique involves the use of an inserter blade between an anvil and a horn to create loops of material to form the vane, with the fabric remaining in an unlooped condition between the loops. Various glue, creaser and folder stations are also involved in the disclosed and illustrated manufacturing embodiment. In most cases, however, no manufacturing information is provided other than that which might be gleaned from an examination of various cross-sectional and perspective views of the blinds with curtains themselves.
The present inventor has found that a significant impediment to the commercialization of such products is the ability to manufacture the products precisely and at low cost, especially with the tendency of various fabric components to wrinkle, crease, stretch, pucker or the like. An efficient technique for manufacturing such door and window coverings would represent a substantial advance in this art. To the extent such manufacturing technique led to the creation of a new blind with curtain product, such advance would be even more significant.